In addition to a strong emphasis on technical development, BIA offers a diverse curriculum that includes dancer strength training and stretch classes. The demands on a dancer’s body often go far beyond what can be gained from dance classes alone. Founder Jaime Robtison also believes it is imperative to teach students to be confident in themselves throughout their training. When dancers have the confidence to express who they are through dancing, they become far more valuable as artists. BIA’s unique and well-rounded approach to training gives aspiring dancers all of the necessary tools needed to achieve their goals.

Jaime Robtison began her classical ballet training in Salem, VA under the direction of Terri Post, a former dancer for the Joffrey Ballet. Ms Robtison was awarded scholarships to prestigious schools, including The Nutmeg Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet, and The Kirov Ballet in Washington, D.C. In addition to guest performances with other companies and the Roanoke Opera, her professional career has included the Richmond Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, and Dance Alive touring company. Some of her favorite roles are Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Sugar Plum Fairy and Arabian principal in The Nutcracker.

Ms. Robtison was Artistic Director of the Covington Regional Ballet, supported by the Covington Arts Association in Covington, GA, for ten years. She created her own Snow White and The Little Mermaid. In addition, she staged and choreographed other new works and story ballets like Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Coppelia, and The Nutcracker.

Ms. Robtison has years of experience teaching classical ballet as well. She co-founded and formerly owned Mainstream Dance, Inc., a highly respected school for dance training in Covington, GA. Ms. Robtison has studied the Vaganova syllabus of classical ballet and is certified in Grades 1-3. She also attended the teacher conference for the Royal Academy of Dance Exam Syllabus, Grades 1-3. In addition to offering summer programs just for her own studio dancers, Ms. Robtison created programs open to other dancers. Recognizing the value of individual coaching, strength training and performance opportunities, Ms. Robtison developed Summer Dance Company, a unique program that includes a classical and contemporary partnering intensive and a ballet intensive that addresses every aspect of developing a dancer from technique, flexibility and strengthening, to confidence, business knowledge and performing skills. Sustaining this program is a priority for Ms. Robtison. In January of 2015, she opened Ballet Institute of Atlanta in order to provide SDC’s unique approach to training dancers all year round.